Linder's Field Local Nature Reserve

Description

Owners: Linder's Field is managed as a charitable trust by the District Council. Known as Roebuck Lane Playing Field Charity No: 301270

Parish: Buckhurst Hill

Grid Reference: TQ 415 945 {phocamaps view=link|id=7|text=Map}

LNR Declaration: 17 August 2000

Access: There is no formal car park for the Nature Reserve. Please park considerately in a local street. The main entrance is from Roebuck Lane and is marked by a specially made gateway. The site has a 200m hardened pathway to a viewing platform and several informal footpaths throughout the site.

Site Description: Linder's Field is more than just a field. It is a mixture of ancient woodland, scrub, grassland and ponds. In the spring, the Reserve comes alive to the sound of birdsong. The small ponds are home to frogs, toads and newts, the hedgerows are good for the foraging bats and in the summer the meadow is a buzz with insects.

Linder’s Field is a remnant of a once much larger ancient woodland called Pluckett’s Wood. The presence of the very special Midland hawthorn and Wild service trees support this. Of the wildflowers Wood Anemone and Bluebell are also ancient woodland indicator species.

Another reason Linder’s field is an important site is its wildflower meadow. Species rich wildflower meadows have declined by 97 percent since the 1930’s and are an important habitat for many species of invertebrate, bird and mammal. Linder’s Field was awarded a Living Landscape award 2012 for the Green Hay Strewning project undertaken with Essex Wildlife Trust in 2011. This project aimed to increase the species richness of the meadow and as such improve biodiversity in the area.

The combination of hedgerows, scrub and woodland on the reserve provide an important corridor for wildlife to travel safely between the pockets of green space in the Buckhurst Hill area.

Linder’s Field got its name from Charles Linder who used to own the site. He allowed use of it by locals as a venue for sports days and summer fetes. In 1956 he signed over management of Linder’s Field to Chigwell Urban District Council (which later became Epping Forest District Council) for 35 years. Then in 1963 the family signed over the management permanently. The site is now managed for conservation by Epping Forest Countrycare. This management includes scrub clearance, pond maintenance and hay cutting.

{phocadownload view=file|id=1291|text=View the current management plan for Linder's Field LNR|target=s}